“Pieces of the Whole
Ceramic sculptures by Lisa Battle, photographs by 15 Studio Gallery artists and Kay Chernush
NOV 11, 2024
Lisa Battle, “Cosmic Dance” (Courtesy of Studio Gallery)
WATERY FORMS MADE SOLID, Lisa Battle's multi-piece ceramic sculptures suggest surges and starfish, but also petals, arms, or rotors. The local artist's creations, arranged in linked designs on the walls of Studio Gallery's main floor, illustrate the show's title, "Interconnections." The components fit together snugly, but without touching, which gives a sense of lightness to the heavy shapes.
Some of Battle's handmade, wood-fired creations are single pieces, although those can be as complex as "Oceana," a coiling pillar that combines the shapes of shells and waves. Several pieces center on holes, cosmic portals defined by surrounding structures that can appear bony, vegetal, or softly fleshy. There are even a few functional objects, vases made of planes of clay that overlap improbably into coherent form, sometimes floral. The sculptures's colors are usually earthy tans, browns, and greens, fluidly mingled, although the hues sometimes shift toward oceanic blue-gray.
The artist takes inspiration from the Greco-Roman idea of a world spirit that connects all living creatures, a classical notion updated into the contemporary Gaia theory of synergy among all Earthly creatures. "Gaia Hypothesis," in fact, is the title of one of the most striking single-part sculptures, an intricately incised oval setting for a dark, narrow gateway.
Such ceramic constructions as "Rose Canyon," likely inspired by eroded rock landscapes of the arid West, appear shattered. More often, however, the separate shards of the multi-part assemblages seem to be engaged in complementary motion. In Battle's sculptures, the world spirit is a sort of dance.”
Review by Mark Jenkins, DisCerning Eye, November 2024. Thank you!